Languages Pedagogy Podcast

Mike Llerena

Welcome to the Languages & Pedagogy Podcast, your go-to resource for language educators and enthusiasts. Join us as we explore innovative teaching methods, share valuable tips for mastering new languages, and discuss the latest trends in language education. Whether you're an experienced teacher looking to enhance your classroom techniques or a language learner eager to deepen your understanding, our podcast offers insightful conversations with experts, practical advice, and inspiring stories from educators around the world.

  1. 22h ago

    Ep243. ft. Leandro Paladino - Why Great Language Teachers Never Stop Learning (Part 1)

    What if becoming a great teacher has less to do with knowing more and more to do with knowing when to step out of the spotlight? In Part 1 of this conversation, Mike sits down with teacher educator Leandro Paladino to challenge some of the assumptions shaping modern language education. Leandro shares one of the most important lessons of his career: the teacher is not the protagonist—the learner is. From teacher ego and student-centered learning to translanguaging, emergent language, professional development, and the realities facing novice educators, this episode examines what genuine teacher growth actually looks like. We explore: • Why experienced teachers learn to “disappear” from the center of the classroom• The difference between teaching a lesson and responding to learners• Why students’ home and earlier languages should be treated as resources• How translanguaging challenges traditional language-classroom assumptions• Why professional development needs to be strategic—not endless• The financial and professional barriers teachers face when pursuing CPD• How teachers can honestly assess where they are in their professional journey• Why collecting certificates does not automatically make someone a better educator For serious language teachers, teacher trainers, ELT professionals, and educators who refuse to become professionally stagnant, this conversation asks a fundamental question: Where are you as a teacher—and where do you want to go next? Explore language education, professional development, and learning opportunities at www.mikenglishonline.com #teachereducation #languageteaching #elt #professionaldevelopment #teachertraining #languagelearning #teachers #education

  2. 5d ago

    Ep242. ft. Paul Collin - Rebuilding School Culture: The Leadership Blueprint for Trust, Teachers & the Future (Part 2)

    Great school culture cannot depend on one exceptional leader. Because if everything collapses when that person leaves, you never built a culture you built a dependency. In Part 2 of Mike's conversation with educational leader Paul Collin, the discussion moves from diagnosing the school culture crisis to answering the harder question: How do we actually rebuild it? Paul explains why sustainable transformation requires aligned leadership teams rather than “superhero” principals, and why the strongest leaders eventually stop trying to imitate leadership models and become comfortable leading authentically. But leadership authenticity is only the beginning. Teachers around the world are carrying enormous workloads, emotional pressure, administrative demands, changing technology, behavioral challenges, and increasing expectations. So what does genuine teacher support look like? Not another token wellness activity. Not another initiative. Not another inspirational email. Paul argues that great leaders listen, act, simplify, and create environments where teachers can speak without fear of judgment. Sometimes the most effective interventions are surprisingly small. Better systems. Better tools. Less unnecessary workload. More time spent doing what teachers actually do well. This conversation examines: • Why school transformation cannot depend on one charismatic principal• The difference between good leadership and high-performance leadership• Authentic leadership and institutional trust• How leaders can genuinely reduce teacher overwhelm• Why listening without action destroys credibility• The danger of endless educational initiatives• Teacher burnout and the future teacher recruitment crisis• How leaders decide which priorities truly matter• Why human connection will remain essential in an AI-driven world• The role of social media and technology in shaping young people• Why education may need to “unlearn” before it can evolve• How consistency turns leadership vision into lived school culture Paul leaves leaders with a powerful challenge: Ask ten people in your school what excellent behavior should look like. If you receive ten different answers, you don't have consistency yet. Because people cannot consistently deliver something they cannot clearly picture. This episode is for principals, teachers, administrators, educational coaches, policymakers, and serious educators thinking beyond today's problems toward the schools we need for the next decade. 🎙️ Languages Pedagogy Podcast — Ep. 242 ft. Paul Collin Continue exploring conversations about education, language learning, leadership, pedagogy, and professional growth at: www.mikenglishonline.com #educationalleadership #schoolculture #teacherburnout #teacherwellbeing #schoolleadership #futureofeducation #educationreform #teachers

  3. Sep 1

    Ep241. ft. Paul Collin - The School Culture Crisis: Why Attendance, Discipline & Trust Are Breaking Down (Part 1)

    What if poor attendance, worsening behavior, and teacher burnout are not separate problems—but symptoms of the same broken school culture? And what if rebuilding a school starts with something as simple—and as difficult—as making people feel that they belong? In Part 1 of this powerful conversation, Mike sits down with educational leader, coach, and former headteacher Paul Collin to examine what is really happening inside schools struggling with attendance, discipline, trust, staff pressure, and disengagement. With 28 years in education, Paul brings a leadership perspective grounded in real school environments not leadership theory disconnected from reality. Together, they explore why some education systems become obsessed with test scores while neglecting school culture, why students begin emotionally checking out of education, and why data alone cannot explain what is happening behind the numbers. One of the most striking examples in this episode shows how a school improved attendance by changing something incredibly simple: leaders began standing at the entrance, greeting students personally, learning their names, and intentionally creating a better first experience of school. Because belonging is not a slogan. It is something students experience or they don't. The conversation also tackles the tension between discipline and compassion. Paul introduces the idea of a “warm-strict” approach: strong boundaries, clear expectations, human connection, and absolute consistency across the institution. And when consistency disappears? Students find the gaps. Teachers become frustrated. Leadership loses credibility. Culture slowly fractures. This episode explores: • The real causes behind school culture deterioration• Why attendance is often a belonging problem• The danger of allowing metrics to overshadow people• Discipline without dehumanizing students• Why behavioral expectations must be consistent schoolwide• How teachers and leaders unintentionally undermine each other• The relationship between connection, behavior, and engagement• How trust is built through repeated small interactions• Why leaders must sometimes publicly admit, “We got this wrong”• The enormous influence leadership has on institutional culture This is not a conversation about finding someone to blame. It is a conversation about rebuilding the conditions where teachers can teach, students want to attend, leaders can lead, and people trust one another again. For educators, principals, school leaders, teachers, policymakers, and anyone serious about the future of education, this conversation deserves your attention. 🎙️ Languages Pedagogy Podcast — Ep. 241 ft. Paul Collin Explore more language learning, education, professional development, and teaching resources at: www.mikenglishonline.com #schoolculture #educationalleadership #teacherwellbeing #studentengagement #schoolleadership #educationreform #teachervoice #studentbelonging

  4. Aug 27

    Ep240. Season 6 Premiere - Education Is Changing. So Must We.

    Education isn’t waiting for teachers to catch up. The classroom is changing and so is our role inside it. Episode 240 marks the beginning of Season 6 of the Languages Pedagogy Podcast, and this premiere asks one of the most important questions facing educators today: What does good education actually look like now? AI is transforming access to knowledge. EdTech is reshaping classrooms. Multilingualism is challenging outdated ideas about fluency and identity. Research into literacy, neuroscience, inclusion, pronunciation, and teacher development continues to change what we understand about learning. But technology alone will never create great education. In this Season 6 premiere, Mike Llerena explores the conversations ahead from artificial intelligence and teacher education to multilingualism, pronunciation, literacy, school culture, leadership, EdTech, and the evolving role of educators. Season 6 isn't about chasing trends. It's about questioning assumptions, examining evidence, challenging established practices, and rediscovering what makes teaching fundamentally human. Because experience without reflection can become repetition—and our students deserve educators who are still learning. 🎧 Welcome to Season 6. 🌐 Explore more from Mike Llerena and the Languages Pedagogy Podcast at www.mikenglishonline.com #languagespedagogy #languagelearning #teachereducation #education #edtech #artificialintelligence #multilingualism #teachers

  5. Aug 25

    Ep239. Season 5 Finale - What This Season Taught Us: The Conversations That Are Changing Education

    What happens when AI gets smarter, classrooms become more complex, and the definition of great teaching begins to change? Season 5 ends with one question bigger than any single episode: What kind of education are we building for the next generation? In Episode 239, Mike looks back at a remarkable season of the Languages Pedagogy Podcast and the conversations that challenged how we think about artificial intelligence, language learning, teacher identity, neurodiversity, ADHD, bilingual literacy, the reading brain, educational technology, creativity, and human connection. But this isn't simply a recap. It's a reflection on what these conversations collectively revealed about the future of education—and why teachers may become more important, not less, as AI transforms the classroom. From understanding that difference does not mean deficiency to recognizing teachers as architects of learning, this finale explores one central truth: technology may change how we teach, but wisdom, curiosity, empathy, and human connection will determine how well we teach. Season 5 ends here. The conversation doesn't. 🌐 Continue learning and connect with Mike: www.mikenglishonline.com #languagelearning #languageeducation #futureofeducation #teachers #artificialintelligence #neurodiversity #education #multilingualism

  6. Aug 20

    Ep238. ft. Laura Morales - Beyond Native Fluency: What Great Bilingual Teaching Actually Requires (Part 2)

    Speaking a language does not automatically qualify someone to teach it and holding a teaching certificate does not automatically guarantee that someone understands how children learn. Part 2 with Laura Morales goes much deeper. We move from the architecture of the reading brain into the systems surrounding it: bilingual teacher preparation, native-speaker assumptions, literacy knowledge, classroom management, student autonomy, professional training, teacher reflection, and educational responsibility. Laura explains why educators do not necessarily need to speak every student's home language but they do need enough linguistic knowledge to recognize when a reading difficulty comes from language transfer and when something deeper may be happening. We confront one of language education's most persistent misconceptions: Native fluency is not the same thing as literacy expertise—and neither automatically equals pedagogical competence. From there, the conversation expands into teacher training itself. Why do educators attend countless workshops yet still feel unprepared for the complexity of real classrooms? Why can disconnected professional development create cognitive overload instead of better teaching? Why does classroom discipline so often become confused with fear, compliance, punishment, or shouting? And what changes when students understand why expectations exist rather than simply being ordered to obey them? Laura shares remarkable stories from her own classroom—and from conversations with her son—that forced her to reconsider teaching, discipline, mistakes, independent learning, and the responsibility educators carry. This is not simply a conversation about literacy anymore. It is about what professional teaching actually demands. 📚 Learn more about Laura Morales & LAJAM Education Foundation Explore their work in neurodidactics, literacy, educator development, and creating classrooms designed for lasting impact. 🌐 lajameducation.org📩 Lmorales@lajameducation.org 📖 Don’t Be a Master Teacher; Create a Master Classroom: From Theory to Impact — by Laura Morales 🌐 Discover more at www.mikenglishonline.com #teachertraining #bilingualeducation #scienceofreading #teacherdevelopment #classroommanagement #neurodiversity #literacyeducation #languagelearning

  7. Aug 18

    Ep237. ft. Laura Morales - The Reading Brain: Why Some Children Struggle and What Teachers Need to See (Part 1)

    A child who struggles to read is not necessarily a child who cannot learn. Sometimes, the real problem is that we are looking at the struggle through the wrong lens. In Part 1 of this powerful conversation, psychologist, bilingual educator, and literacy specialist Laura Morales joins the Languages Pedagogy Podcast to unpack what actually happens inside the reading brain—and why understanding that process can completely change the way teachers respond to struggling learners. We explore the critical difference between speaking a language and being literate in it, why English and Spanish cannot simply be taught or assessed through direct translation, and how bilingual students can be misunderstood when educators lack knowledge of how their languages are structured. Laura also takes us inside the cognitive architecture of reading: phonological processing, decoding, semantics, attention, comprehension, automaticity, and higher-order thinking. The conversation becomes even more important when we examine dyslexia, ADHD, autism, neurodiversity, and reading difficulties. Instead of asking only, “Why can’t this child read?”, Laura challenges educators to ask a better question: Which part of the reading pathway needs support? And through one deeply emotional classroom story, we see what can happen when a child who believes she is “the problem” finally meets a teacher determined to find another way. For teachers, literacy specialists, bilingual educators, parents, and anyone serious about the science of reading, this episode challenges assumptions about what reading instruction should actually look like. 📚 Learn more about Laura Morales & LAJAM Education Foundation Explore their work in neurodidactics, literacy, educator development, and creating classrooms designed for lasting impact. 🌐 lajameducation.org📩 Lmorales@lajameducation.org 📖 Don’t Be a Master Teacher; Create a Master Classroom: From Theory to Impact — by Laura Morales 🌐 Explore more language-learning and educational content at www.mikenglishonline.com #readingbrain #bilingualliteracy #scienceofreading #neurodiversity #bilingualeducation #literacyinstruction #languagelearning #teacherdevelopment

  8. Aug 13

    Ep236. ft. Belen Albarracin - The AI Fluency Trap: Why Language Learners Still Need Human Teachers (Part 2)

    AI can make learners feel fluent. The dangerous question is whether that confidence survives a conversation with an actual human being. Part 2 of my conversation with Belen Albarracin moves beyond AI tools and into one of the biggest educational questions of our generation: What should humans refuse to outsource? We explore AI codes of conduct, responsible classroom use, cognitive offloading, critical thinking, speaking confidence, the illusion of fluency, frustration, classroom management, homework, AI tutors, textbooks—and why the human teacher remains irreplaceable. Belen explains why schools should stop pretending students are not using artificial intelligence and start creating explicit rules around when, why and how AI can be used. We also confront a major language-learning risk: AI can provide unlimited practice without embarrassment or judgment—but constant encouragement can create an inaccurate perception of ability. Eventually, every learner needs the reality check of genuine human communication. AI can support language acquisition. It cannot replace the social, emotional and pedagogical complexity of a great teacher. 🎧 Listen to Part 2 and decide where the line between intelligent assistance and intellectual dependence should be drawn. 🌐 Continue learning with me at www.mikenglishonline.com #aiineducation #languagelearning #elt #aitutors #criticalthinking #teacherdevelopment #languageteaching #futureofeducation

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Welcome to the Languages & Pedagogy Podcast, your go-to resource for language educators and enthusiasts. Join us as we explore innovative teaching methods, share valuable tips for mastering new languages, and discuss the latest trends in language education. Whether you're an experienced teacher looking to enhance your classroom techniques or a language learner eager to deepen your understanding, our podcast offers insightful conversations with experts, practical advice, and inspiring stories from educators around the world.

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